Two counties, two judges, one marriage

A Macomb County judge and Oakland County judge are doing more than their share to improve inter-county relations.

Circuit Judge Mark Switalski and Judge Jodi Debbrecht Switalski of 51st District Court in Waterford Township have been married since last October. Both filed for divorce from their spouse in 2010 and were divorced in 2011.

As required by the state constitution, both say they have maintained their residences in their respective districts. Mark Switalski lives in a Macomb Township condominium and Debbrecht Switalski resides in her Waterford Township home with her two young children, whom she has shared custody. They often spend nights in each other’s abodes, and spend many nights separately, they said in separate interviews. Debbrecht Switalski has joint custody of her two young children.

“We’re burning up M-59,” Switalski said. “It’s complicated.”

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While the situation raises residency questions, the marriage does not appear to violate any judicial rule.

“A representative of the State Court Administrative Office did speak to both judges, and both judges said they are still living in their residences in their respective districts,” said SCAO spokeswoman Marcia McBrien. “We don’t have any reason to probe past that.”

Article 6, section 20 of the Michigan Constitution says, “Whenever a justice or judge removes his domicile beyond the limits of the territory from which he was elected or appointed, he shall have vacated his office.”

Officials could not recall a similar situation in the past.

Lawrence Dubin, a professor at University of Detroit Mercy Law School, said the scenario doesn’t seem to present an ethical issue.

“I don’t think there’s anything per se that prohibits two judges who serve in different counties from marrying as long as they have permanent residences in their respective districts,” Dubin said, adding, “Judges have to demonstrate integrity in complying with the law.”

If a complaint was filed with SCAO, the results of an investigation could be filed with the Judicial Tenure Commission, which oversees the conduct of the judiciary and can recommend disciplinary action against a judge, up to removal from office, to the state Supreme Court.

The state Judicial Code of Conduct adopted by the Supreme Court doesn’t specifically address residency. But the heading of Canon 2 says, “A judge should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.”

Section A says, “A judge must therefore accept restrictions on conduct that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen and should do so freely and willingly.”

The couple did not immediately inform SCAO of their marriage and didn’t publicly announce their union until an out-of-town family wedding in February. That means Debbrecht Switalski’s marriage was unknown to voters who last November elected her to her first six-year term after she was appointed in late 2010 by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. She defeated Andrea Dean, 15,580 to 10,052 votes.

The couple got married at a courthouse in Toledo, Ohio, because of the ease of getting married there and the privacy the location provided “because we’re both public figures,” Debbrecht Switalski said.

“There’s not a lot of red tape” in Ohio, Switalski said.

The website Toledo.com describes the ease in getting married at the Toledo Municipal Court, with a marrying judge available daily.

“I recommend it to anyone,” Debbrecht Switalski said with a laugh. “You can get married and go to Tony Packo’s, which has the world’s greatest hot dogs. Near the Mud Hens stadium. If you know Mark, you know it has to be about baseball.”

Switalski is an avid baseball fan.

Switalski’s brother and fellow circuit Judge Matthew Switalski said he wasn’t surprised that the couple wedded, albeit they didn’t inform the family until four months later.

“I figured it might happen,” he said. “We’re very happy. We just want him to be happy.”

Matt Switalski pointed out that spouses sometimes have to live apart for their jobs, some in different states.

“I know it’s not exactly the same, but some people have cottages and nobody thinks twice about it,” he added.

Debbrecht Switalski joked that she recommends the situation to anyone in a second marriage.

“You can’t help who you fall in love with. I love him and he loves me,” she said. “Our marriage for now will have to take a backseat to our careers.”

Switalski added, “We wanted to be married. We didn’t want to be dating. We didn’t want to have a committed relationship without a marital relationship.”

Switalski, 60, is more than 10 years older than Debbrecht Switalski. He has adult children from his first marriage.

He ran unopposed for re-election last fall. He was credited with starting the business court and pushed for electronic filing. He was replaced as chief by then-Judge David Viviano in a state Supreme Court vote after the court regained its conservative majority.

He has been a circuit judge since 2001 after serving many years as a 39th District Court judge in Roseville.

Debbrecht Switalski served as an assistant Macomb County prosecutor for several years until January 2009 when she was hired as magistrate at 45A District Court in Berkley for Judge Jamie Wittenberg, also a former assistant prosecutor in Macomb elected in November 2008. She said she served in Switalski’s family court for “a couple of months” while she worked as a juvenile prosecutor before he was moved to become a criminal/civil judge.

Debbrecht Switalski last year took a leadership role in raising public awareness about synthetic marijuana, K2 and Spice.